


Descent

by Dain



Series: ATLA/ITF crossover [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implications of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 17:22:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2076558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dain/pseuds/Dain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko had absolutely no idea what to do with his scar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Descent

_“Your father’s coming to get you.”_

_“My…father. You’re sure it’s not my uncle?”_

_“Fairly sure. Ozai is your father, yes? …why did you assume he wasn’t the one coming?”_

_“No reason.”_

Zuko stared at his reflection. His eyes were more golden-brown under the contacts than they had been in life, but he was less concerned with his eye color and more so with his _face_.

He had absolutely no idea what to do with his scar.

It was the only bit of him that had retained some reddishness to it. The rest of his skin was more of a pasty white color, but his scar still stood out against it, though the contrast had been lessened. Possibly that contrast would disappear if he covered his entire face, but he wasn’t sure if that was accurate – he hadn’t been handed a manual on how to deal with large facial scars when they’d told them how to use the coverup. Maybe if he covered everything but the scar…

The decision should not have taken as long as it did, and he knew he was stalling. He had absolutely no desire to walk down the stairs and find his father waiting for him, possibly with his sister, or even to find no one at all waiting…he hadn’t spoken a word to any member of his family since his awakening in the treatment facility, and he had no idea what he would find when he returned home. He didn’t even know if his uncle had been notified; all he had was the doctors’ word that his father knew.

And after regaining the majority of his living memories, well. He felt strangely disconnected from his father and sister, as if he had a choice in the matter of where he could go – something he couldn’t remember ever feeling before – and he had no desire to return to that household, felt no bonds of blood or obligation to that family. But they were still his family, and he knew that had to mean something…

Eventually, he decided to cover his entire face and be done with it. The coverup mousse couldn’t disguise the fact that he had a scar, but at least it wasn’t the glaring, angry red it had been before his death. Small blessings, he supposed doubtfully. The idea of _small blessings_ didn’t appeal to him much. Mostly it just looked like he was using makeup to cover his scar, which he was, but at least it distracted from the fact that he was using makeup to cover the rest of his skin as well, made everything else look just a bit more natural.

Someone finally came to get him, and his heart thudded in his chest as he left the room, his last safe haven before he was going to have to deal with the rest of the world. Plastic bag of clothing in his hand, he shut the door behind him, trying to muster up the strength to continue.

_“Do you remember how you died, Zuko?”_

_“Not really. Uh, it’s a bit of a blur.”_

Sighing, Zuko released the doorknob and began the long journey down the flight of stairs.


End file.
